Empress crowned Ragga Soca Monarch

Things just keep getting better for Lornette ‘Fya Empress’ Nedd.

She was crowned Calypso Queen in Trinidad earlier this year and last Friday, June 29, she added yet another crown to her head – the title of Ragga Soca Monarch 2012.{{more}}

With her smash song “Bam Bam Talk’, Fya Empress created an inferno with her fiery and well polished performance that had the large crowd at the Victoria Park in a frenzy.

Clad in knee-high stockings, a tiara on her head, with a short, black dress and cat eyed shaped contact lenses, Fya Empress made her “Bam Bam talk” so loudly that she managed to silence last year’s winner Shernelle ‘Skarpyon’ Williams into second position, Orande ‘Bomani’ Charles into third place and newcomer to Ragga Soca, Hance ‘Hance’ John, into the fourth spot.

With the Ragga Soca title already secured, Fya Empress is confident that she can take all the other crowns for Vincy Mas.

“I am extra happy that I won tonight, because it is in my homeland…,” Fya Empress said, shortly after accepting her trophy on stage.

Nedd stated that she was confident going into last week’s competition, because of the strong team behind her.

“Kudos to Mr Fuzion and my hard-working team…The feeling was so great that I won in my homeland for the first time. I’m happy. I feel as though I’m doing something worthwhile,” she added.

When asked if she is looking for a clean sweep this year, Fya Empress responded: “We can! Ladies always outdo men and if they can always come and put their support, you might be surprised on soca monarch and calypso night.”

The confident artiste said it is not often that women dominate in such industries and support is always needed.

“Us, as women, we tend to be in the background, because we only have one rib from the man, so you know the man have power. I can now speak for women. I can be a voice for them in soca monarch, calypso and ragga soca…,” stated Fya Empress.

She beseeched women to come out in their numbers and show their support and by doing that, she said, it can “drastically change Carnival 2012 into something to be remembered.”

With a packed program and large crowd, the show ran smoothly, as 16 contestants vied for the Ragga Soca crown.

Coming off a disappointing showing at the calypso semi-finals, Shernell ‘Skarpyon’ Williams made up for his shortcomings with a stellar performance with his song, “Wine’N” and a colourful cast of backup dancers. Orande ‘Bomani’ Charles kept it classy with his song “Sagga Boy”. Neatly decked out in a three-piece suit, Bomani, as usual, wooed the ladies with his silky delivery. Hance ‘Hance’ John definitely cemented his feet in the ragga soca industry as a force to be reckoned with in the future. From the time the young man hit the stage with his song “Down Dey,” the crowd went into a frenzy with his well co-ordinated choreography, voice clarity and use of the stage. Surprisingly, the judges did not see his performance worthy of a top three spot.

Danielle “Daneel” Veira, with her song “Tell me”, gave a good account of herself with a stellar performance. Gary Young and Levar Fraser of Troots and Ice, with their song “Sweet Fo So”, failed to move the crowd with a lackluster performance. Decked out in a bathing suit, with see-through tights and knee-high boots, a portly Zoelah ‘Zoelah’ Boyde also managed to give a good showing of herself, with her song ‘Jack it up’.

With his song ‘Knocking the plate’, Cornelius ‘Poorsah’ Williams also left the stage with a performance which left much to be desired. Raeon ‘Fete King Maddzart’ Primus’ ‘Woman Love Married Man’ was well received by the crowd when he began his performance with a wedding ceremony that went sour after another woman and Maddzart’s bride began fighting.

Tamisha ‘Tamisha’ Nichols had a simple performance with ‘Talk’, but nearly had the spotlight taken from her when she brought a cute, little girl on stage to sing. Shaunelle ‘Shaunelle’ McKenzie never fails to give an energetic performance and with her song ‘Ruff Rider’, she definitely delivered the goods. Phil ‘Dr. P.’ DaSilva kept it simple with his song ‘Carnival’. With an eye-popping and body-hugging spandex outfit, Aurella ‘Queen B’ Beache kept it nice and sweet with her song ‘Nice and Sweet’. Using all males dancers, Queen B showed her flexibility on stage by gyrating with two of the men and showing off her different poses. Frankie ‘Wise Guy’ performed ‘Bumper turn over’, while last year’s Road March King Godwin ‘Gao’ Billy, with his funny antics, entertained the crowd with his song ‘Only Money She Want’. Eghorne ‘Troublous’ Alexander rounded off the competition with his song, ‘Don’t Let Go’.

Remarks were made by Chairman of the Carnival Development Committee (CDC) Dennis Ambrose and Minster of Culture Cecil McKie.

An intro routine was done by Rodney Small and Rejhuan Baptiste on the pan, along with Extreme Fanatics masqueraders. DJ music was provided by DJ Blaze; there was a band performance by K-netik and featured artiste on the night was Jamaican dancehall star, Konshens.